Cape Town - Twenty-one residents were left with only the clothes on their backs after a fire tore through a property in Electric City, Eerste River.
Among those left homeless are 11 children, all under the age of 16.
Four shacks in the yard were destroyed.
Willem Domingo, who owns the property in Korhaan Street, said he was asleep when the fire broke out and was woken by his wife. He said he made sure everyone got out safely, including a six-month-old baby.
“I was asleep when all this occurred, waking up to my wife screaming my name. We all managed to escape and none of us know what exactly caused the fire,” he said.
According to the rest of the large family, none of them were hurt or hospitalised as they managed to save their lives and those of their children.
Spokesperson for Cape Town Fire and Rescue Service Jermaine Carelse said emergency crews were summoned to the scene at 8.34am.
In attendance were fire crews from Mfuleni, Lansdowne and Strand fire stations, with two fire engines, a water tanker and rescue vehicle. The fire was extinguished at 10.04 but the cause was as yet unknown.